Playback device speaker configuration based on proximity detection

ABSTRACT

Embodiments described herein involve configuring a playback device based on the detection of a barrier in proximity to the playback device. One embodiment may involve causing the playback device to play an audio content, where a first speaker of the playback device is arranged to output in a first direction and configured to play a component of the audio content; receiving proximity data that includes an indication of a barrier that is proximate to the playback device; detecting that the barrier is within a threshold proximity to the first speaker of the playback device; based on the detecting, causing the first speaker to be deactivated; and causing a second speaker of the playback device to play at least the component of the audio content, where the second speaker arranged to output in a second direction that is different from the first direction.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 to, and is acontinuation of, U.S. non-provisional patent application Ser. No.14/216,325, filed on Mar. 17, 2014, entitled “Playback DeviceConfiguration Based on Proximity Detection,” which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure is related to consumer goods and, more particularly, tomethods, systems, products, features, services, and other elementsdirected to media playback or some aspect thereof.

BACKGROUND

Options for accessing and listening to digital audio in an out-loudsetting were limited until in 2003, when SONOS, Inc. filed for one ofits first patent applications, entitled “Method for Synchronizing AudioPlayback between Multiple Networked Devices,” and began offering a mediaplayback system for sale in 2005. The Sonos Wireless HiFi System enablespeople to experience music from many sources via one or more networkedplayback devices. Through a software control application installed on asmartphone, tablet, or computer, one can play what he or she wants inany room that has a networked playback device. Additionally, using thecontroller, for example, different songs can be streamed to each roomwith a playback device, rooms can be grouped together for synchronousplayback, or the same song can be heard in all rooms synchronously.

Given the ever growing interest in digital media, there continues to bea need to develop consumer-accessible technologies to further enhancethe listening experience.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features, aspects, and advantages of the presently disclosed technologymay be better understood with regard to the following description,appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 shows an example media playback system configuration in whichcertain embodiments may be practiced;

FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of an example playback device;

FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of an example control device;

FIG. 4 shows an example controller interface;

FIG. 5 shows an example flow diagram for playback configuration based onbarrier proximity;

FIG. 6 shows an example arrangement of a playback device;

FIG. 7 shows another example arrangement of a playback device;

FIG. 8 shows example frequency responses of a playback device; and

FIG. 9 shows an example controller interface including an indication ofa barrier.

The drawings are for the purpose of illustrating example embodiments,but the inventions are not limited to the arrangements andinstrumentality shown in the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION I. Overview

Embodiments described herein involve dynamically configuring a playbackdevice based on the detection, by the playback device, of a barrier inproximity to the playback device. In practice, playback devices arepositioned in a variety of places throughout various locations, such asa home or business. In many cases, other objects are placed on or aroundthe playback device, either intentionally or unintentionally. Forexample, various household items, such as picture frames and pottedplants, may be placed near the playback device. In some circumstances,placing a particular object near the playback device is merelyconvenient, while in other circumstances, the particular object is usedto hide the playback device. In other cases, the playback device isplaced near a wall or inside an object, such as a cabinet. In any suchcase, the playback device's surroundings may act as a barrier to theaudio output of the playback device.

In some circumstances, when a barrier, such as an object or wall, is inproximity to the playback device, the barrier can affect the audiooutput of the playback device. For example, an object placed in front ofa speaker of the playback device may distort the audio output of thespeaker. Such distortion may lead to certain disadvantageous results,including degraded user experience.

Thus, according to some embodiments described herein, a playback deviceis dynamically configured to help compensate for the presence of abarrier when the playback device detects that a barrier is within aclose proximity of the playback device. To dynamically respond tobarriers placed in proximity to the playback device, the playback devicemay repeat the steps described herein as appropriate. For instance, if abarrier is placed in proximity to a speaker of a playback device, thedevice may adjust the playback configuration based on that barrier. Ifthe barrier is removed, the playback device may dynamically adjust theplayback configuration back to the original playback configuration. Or,if a second barrier is placed in proximity to another speaker, then theplayback device may dynamically adjust the playback configuration on thebasis of both barriers. As barriers move in and out of proximity withthe playback device, the playback device may change its playbackconfiguration accordingly.

In some embodiments, dynamic configuration of the playback deviceinvolves deactivating a speaker of the playback device. For example, aparticular speaker of the playback device may be deactivated when abarrier is detected within close proximity to the particular speaker. Inother embodiments, configuration of the playback device involvesmodifying the sound output of a particular speaker to help compensatefor the presence of a barrier detected within close proximity to theparticular speaker. As one example, the playback device may adjust highrange frequency components of the audio output to compensate fordistortion of the perceived frequency response of the playback devicewithin that high frequency range caused by the barrier. In otherembodiments, configuration of the playback device involves deactivatinga first speaker and modifying the sound output of a second speaker. Inone example, the first and second speakers may be part of the sameplayback device. In another example, the first speaker is part of afirst playback device, and the second speaker is part of a secondplayback device.

Other examples and aspects of compensating for the presence of thebarrier are more fully described below.

As indicated above, the present application involves dynamicallyconfiguring a playback device based on the detection of a barrier inproximity to the playback device. In one aspect, a method is provided.The method involves a playback device receiving proximity data thatincludes an indication of a barrier that is proximate to a playbackdevice. The method further involves the playback device detecting thatthe barrier is within a threshold proximity to a first speaker of aplayback device based on the indication of the barrier proximate to theplayback device. Based on the detecting, the method involves setting aplayback configuration of the playback device. The method also involvescausing the playback device to play an audio content according to theplayback configuration.

In another aspect, a playback device is provided. The playback deviceincludes a first speaker, a second speaker, a processor, a data storage,and a program logic. The program logic is stored in the data storage andexecutable by the processor to (i) receive proximity data that includesan indication of a barrier that is proximate to the playback device; and(ii) detect that the barrier is within a threshold proximity to thefirst speaker based on the indication of the barrier proximate to theplayback device, where the first speaker is configured to play acomponent of an audio content. Based on the detecting, the program logicis further executable to (i) cause the first speaker to be deactivatedand (ii) cause the second speaker to play at least a portion of thecomponent of the audio content.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a playback device to cause the playbackdevice to perform functions. The functions include receiving proximitydata that includes an indication of a barrier that is proximate to aplayback device, and detecting that the barrier is within a thresholdproximity to a first speaker of a playback device based on theindication of the barrier proximate to the playback device. Based on thedetecting, the functions further include setting a playbackconfiguration of the playback device; and causing the playback device toplay an audio content according to the playback configuration.

It will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that thisdisclosure includes numerous other embodiments.

II. Example Operating Environment

FIG. 1 shows an example configuration of a media playback system 100 inwhich one or more embodiments disclosed herein may be practiced orimplemented. The media playback system 100 as shown is associated withan example home environment having several rooms and spaces, such as forexample, a master bedroom, an office, a dining room, and a living room.As shown in the example of FIG. 1, the media playback system 100includes playback devices 102-124, control devices 126 and 128, and awired or wireless network router 130.

Further discussions relating to the different components of the examplemedia playback system 100 and how the different components may interactto provide a user with a media experience may be found in the followingsections. While discussions herein may generally refer to the examplemedia playback system 100, technologies described herein are not limitedto applications within, among other things, the home environment asshown in FIG. 1. For instance, the technologies described herein may beuseful in environments where multi-zone audio may be desired, such as,for example, a commercial setting like a restaurant, mall or airport, avehicle like a sports utility vehicle (SUV), bus or car, a ship or boat,an airplane, and so on.

a. Example Playback Devices

FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of an example playback device200 that may be configured to be one or more of the playback devices102-124 of the media playback system 100 of FIG. 1. The playback device200 may include a processor 202, software components 204, memory 206,audio processing components 208, audio amplifier(s) 210, speaker(s) 212,a network interface 214 including wireless interface(s) 216 and wiredinterface(s) 218, and proximity sensor(s) 220. In one case, the playbackdevice 200 may not include the speaker(s) 212, but rather a speakerinterface for connecting the playback device 200 to external speakers.In another case, the playback device 200 may include neither thespeaker(s) 212 nor the audio amplifier(s) 210, but rather an audiointerface for connecting the playback device 200 to an external audioamplifier or audio-visual receiver.

In one example, the processor 202 may be a clock-driven computingcomponent configured to process input data according to instructionsstored in the memory 206. The memory 206 may be a tangiblecomputer-readable medium configured to store instructions executable bythe processor 202. For instance, the memory 206 may be data storage thatcan be loaded with one or more of the software components 204 executableby the processor 202 to achieve certain functions. In one example, thefunctions may involve the playback device 200 retrieving audio data froman audio source or another playback device. In another example, thefunctions may involve the playback device 200 sending audio data toanother device or playback device on a network. In yet another example,the functions may involve pairing of the playback device 200 with one ormore playback devices to create a multi-channel audio environment.

Certain functions may involve the playback device 200 synchronizingplayback of audio content with one or more other playback devices.During synchronous playback, a listener will preferably not be able toperceive time-delay differences between playback of the audio content bythe playback device 200 and the one or more other playback devices. U.S.Pat. No. 8,234,395 entitled, “System and method for synchronizingoperations among a plurality of independently clocked digital dataprocessing devices,” which is hereby incorporated by reference, providesin more detail some examples for audio playback synchronization amongplayback devices.

The memory 206 may further be configured to store data associated withthe playback device 200, such as one or more zones and/or zone groupsthe playback device 200 is a part of, audio sources accessible by theplayback device 200, or a playback queue that the playback device 200(or some other playback device) may be associated with. The data may bestored as one or more state variables that are periodically updated andused to describe the state of the playback device 200. The memory 206may also include the data associated with the state of the other devicesof the media system, and shared from time to time among the devices sothat one or more of the devices have the most recent data associatedwith the system. Other embodiments are also possible.

The audio processing components 208 may include one or moredigital-to-analog converters (DAC), an audio preprocessing component, anaudio enhancement component or a digital signal processor (DSP), and soon. In one embodiment, one or more of the audio processing components208 may be a subcomponent of the processor 202. In one example, audiocontent may be processed and/or intentionally altered by the audioprocessing components 208 to produce audio signals. The produced audiosignals may then be provided to the audio amplifier(s) 210 foramplification and playback through speaker(s) 212. Particularly, theaudio amplifier(s) 210 may include devices configured to amplify audiosignals to a level for driving one or more of the speakers 212. Thespeaker(s) 212 may include an individual transducer (e.g., a “driver”)or a complete speaker system involving an enclosure with one or moredrivers. A particular driver of the speaker(s) 212 may include, forexample, a subwoofer (e.g., for low frequencies), a mid-range driver(e.g., for middle frequencies), and/or a tweeter (e.g., for highfrequencies). In some cases, each transducer in the one or more speakers212 may be driven by an individual corresponding audio amplifier of theaudio amplifier(s) 210. In addition to producing analog signals forplayback by the playback device 200, the audio processing components 208may be configured to process audio content to be sent to one or moreother playback devices for playback.

Audio content to be processed and/or played back by the playback device200 may be received from an external source, such as via an audioline-in input connection (e.g., an auto-detecting 3.5 mm audio line-inconnection) or the network interface 214.

The network interface 214 may be configured to facilitate a data flowbetween the playback device 200 and one or more other devices on a datanetwork. As such, the playback device 200 may be configured to receiveaudio content over the data network from one or more other playbackdevices in communication with the playback device 200, network deviceswithin a local area network, or audio content sources over a wide areanetwork such as the Internet. In one example, the audio content andother signals transmitted and received by the playback device 200 may betransmitted in the form of digital packet data containing an InternetProtocol (IP)-based source address and IP-based destination addresses.In such a case, the network interface 214 may be configured to parse thedigital packet data such that the data destined for the playback device200 is properly received and processed by the playback device 200.

As shown, the network interface 214 may include wireless interface(s)216 and wired interface(s) 218. The wireless interface(s) 216 mayprovide network interface functions for the playback device 200 towirelessly communicate with other devices (e.g., other playbackdevice(s), speaker(s), receiver(s), network device(s), control device(s)within a data network the playback device 200 is associated with) inaccordance with a communication protocol (e.g., any wireless standardincluding IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.15, 4Gmobile communication standard, and so on). The wired interface(s) 218may provide network interface functions for the playback device 200 tocommunicate over a wired connection with other devices in accordancewith a communication protocol (e.g., IEEE 802.3). While the networkinterface 214 shown in FIG. 2 includes both wireless interface(s) 216and wired interface(s) 218, the network interface 214 may in someembodiments include only wireless interface(s) or only wiredinterface(s).

In some embodiments, the playback device 200 includes one or moreproximity sensor(s) 220. As a general matter, proximity sensor(s) 220may be configured to generate signals indicating the presence of objectswithin the range of the proximity sensor(s) 220. In some embodiments,the signals indicating the presence of objects may be processed intodigital proximity data. For example, where the signals indicating thepresence of objects are analog signals, the signals may be convertedusing an analog-to-digital converter into digital proximity data.Proximity sensor(s) 220 may further be configured to generate dataindicating absolute, relative, and/or approximate distances of objectsfrom the proximity sensor. Proximity sensor(s) 220 may include one ormore of (i) a microphone; (ii) a capacitive sensor; (iii) an infrared(IR) sensor; or (iv) a camera, among other examples. And the proximitysensors may be configured to perform functions in addition to thoseexplicitly discussed herein.

In one example, the playback device 200 and one other playback devicemay be paired to play two separate audio components of audio content.For instance, playback device 200 may be configured to play a leftchannel audio component, while the other playback device may beconfigured to play a right channel audio component, thereby producing orenhancing a stereo effect of the audio content. The paired playbackdevices (also referred to as “bonded playback devices”) may further playaudio content in synchrony with other playback devices.

In another example, the playback device 200 may be sonicallyconsolidated with one or more other playback devices to form a single,consolidated playback device. A consolidated playback device may beconfigured to process and reproduce sound differently than anunconsolidated playback device or playback devices that are paired,because a consolidated playback device may have additional speakerdrivers through which audio content may be rendered. For instance, ifthe playback device 200 is a playback device designed to render lowfrequency range audio content (i.e. a subwoofer), the playback device200 may be consolidated with a playback device designed to render fullfrequency range audio content. In such a case, the full frequency rangeplayback device, when consolidated with the low frequency playbackdevice 200, may be configured to render only the mid and high frequencycomponents of audio content, while the low frequency range playbackdevice 200 renders the low frequency component of the audio content. Theconsolidated playback device may further be paired with a singleplayback device or yet another consolidated playback device.

By way of illustration, SONOS, Inc. presently offers (or has offered)for sale certain playback devices including a “PLAY:1,” “PLAY:3,”“PLAY:5,” “PLAYBAR,” “CONNECT:AMP,” “CONNECT,” and “SUB.” Any otherpast, present, and/or future playback devices may additionally oralternatively be used to implement the playback devices of exampleembodiments disclosed herein. Additionally, it is understood that aplayback device is not limited to the example illustrated in FIG. 2 orto the SONOS product offerings. For example, a playback device mayinclude a wired or wireless headphone. In another example, a playbackdevice may include or interact with a docking station for personalmobile media playback devices. In yet another example, a playback devicemay be integral to another device or component such as a television, alighting fixture, or some other device for indoor or outdoor use.

b. Example Playback Zone Configurations

Referring back to the media playback system 100 of FIG. 1, theenvironment may have one or more playback zones, each with one or moreplayback devices. The media playback system 100 may be established withone or more playback zones, after which one or more zones may be added,or removed to arrive at the example configuration shown in FIG. 1. Eachzone may be given a name according to a different room or space such asan office, bathroom, master bedroom, bedroom, kitchen, dining room,living room, and/or balcony. In one case, a single playback zone mayinclude multiple rooms or spaces. In another case, a single room orspace may include multiple playback zones.

As shown in FIG. 1, the balcony, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, office,and bedroom zones each have one playback device, while the living roomand master bedroom zones each have multiple playback devices. In theliving room zone, playback devices 104, 106, 108, and 110 may beconfigured to play audio content in synchrony as individual playbackdevices, as one or more bonded playback devices, as one or moreconsolidated playback devices, or any combination thereof. Similarly, inthe case of the master bedroom, playback devices 122 and 124 may beconfigured to play audio content in synchrony as individual playbackdevices, as a bonded playback device, or as a consolidated playbackdevice.

In one example, one or more playback zones in the environment of FIG. 1may each be playing different audio content. For instance, the user maybe grilling in the balcony zone and listening to hip hop music beingplayed by the playback device 102 while another user may be preparingfood in the kitchen zone and listening to classical music being playedby the playback device 114. In another example, a playback zone may playthe same audio content in synchrony with another playback zone. Forinstance, the user may be in the office zone where the playback device118 is playing the same rock music that is being playing by playbackdevice 102 in the balcony zone. In such a case, playback devices 102 and118 may be playing the rock music in synchrony such that the user mayseamlessly (or at least substantially seamlessly) enjoy the audiocontent that is being played out-loud while moving between differentplayback zones. Synchronization among playback zones may be achieved ina manner similar to that of synchronization among playback devices, asdescribed in previously referenced U.S. Pat. No. 8,234,395.

As suggested above, the zone configurations of the media playback system100 may be dynamically modified, and in some embodiments, the mediaplayback system 100 supports numerous configurations. For instance, if auser physically moves one or more playback devices to or from a zone,the media playback system 100 may be reconfigured to accommodate thechange(s). For instance, if the user physically moves the playbackdevice 102 from the balcony zone to the office zone, the office zone maynow include both the playback device 118 and the playback device 102.The playback device 102 may be paired or grouped with the office zoneand/or renamed if so desired via a control device such as the controldevices 126 and 128. On the other hand, if the one or more playbackdevices are moved to a particular area in the home environment that isnot already a playback zone, a new playback zone may be created for theparticular area.

Further, different playback zones of the media playback system 100 maybe dynamically combined into zone groups or split up into individualplayback zones. For instance, the dining room zone and the kitchen zone114 may be combined into a zone group for a dinner party such thatplayback devices 112 and 114 may render audio content in synchrony. Onthe other hand, the living room zone may be split into a television zoneincluding playback device 104, and a listening zone including playbackdevices 106, 108, and 110, if the user wishes to listen to music in theliving room space while another user wishes to watch television.

c. Example Control Devices

FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of an example control device 300that may be configured to be one or both of the control devices 126 and128 of the media playback system 100. As shown, the control device 300may include a processor 302, memory 304, a network interface 306, and auser interface 308. In one example, the control device 300 may be adedicated controller for the media playback system 100. In anotherexample, the control device 300 may be a network device on which mediaplayback system controller application software may be installed, suchas for example, an iPhone™ iPad™ or any other smart phone, tablet ornetwork device (e.g., a networked computer such as a PC or Mac™).

The processor 302 may be configured to perform functions relevant tofacilitating user access, control, and configuration of the mediaplayback system 100. The memory 304 may be configured to storeinstructions executable by the processor 302 to perform those functions.The memory 304 may also be configured to store the media playback systemcontroller application software and other data associated with the mediaplayback system 100 and the user.

In one example, the network interface 306 may be based on an industrystandard (e.g., infrared, radio, wired standards including IEEE 802.3,wireless standards including IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n,802.11ac, 802.15, 4G mobile communication standard, and so on). Thenetwork interface 306 may provide a means for the control device 300 tocommunicate with other devices in the media playback system 100. In oneexample, data and information (e.g., such as a state variable) may becommunicated between control device 300 and other devices via thenetwork interface 306. For instance, playback zone and zone groupconfigurations in the media playback system 100 may be received by thecontrol device 300 from a playback device or another network device, ortransmitted by the control device 300 to another playback device ornetwork device via the network interface 306. In some cases, the othernetwork device may be another control device.

Playback device control commands such as volume control and audioplayback control may also be communicated from the control device 300 toa playback device via the network interface 306. As suggested above,changes to configurations of the media playback system 100 may also beperformed by a user using the control device 300. The configurationchanges may include adding/removing one or more playback devices to/froma zone, adding/removing one or more zones to/from a zone group, forminga bonded or consolidated player, separating one or more playback devicesfrom a bonded or consolidated player, among others. Accordingly, thecontrol device 300 may sometimes be referred to as a controller, whetherthe control device 300 is a dedicated controller or a network device onwhich media playback system controller application software isinstalled.

The user interface 308 of the control device 300 may be configured tofacilitate user access and control of the media playback system 100, byproviding a controller interface such as the controller interface 400shown in FIG. 4. The controller interface 400 includes a playbackcontrol region 410, a playback zone region 420, a playback status region430, a playback queue region 440, and an audio content sources region450. The user interface 400 as shown is just one example of a userinterface that may be provided on a network device such as the controldevice 300 of FIG. 3 (and/or the control devices 126 and 128 of FIG. 1)and accessed by users to control a media playback system such as themedia playback system 100. Other user interfaces of varying formats,styles, and interactive sequences may alternatively be implemented onone or more network devices to provide comparable control access to amedia playback system.

The playback control region 410 may include selectable (e.g., by way oftouch or by using a cursor) icons to cause playback devices in aselected playback zone or zone group to play or pause, fast forward,rewind, skip to next, skip to previous, enter/exit shuffle mode,enter/exit repeat mode, enter/exit cross fade mode. The playback controlregion 410 may also include selectable icons to modify equalizationsettings, and playback volume, among other possibilities.

The playback zone region 420 may include representations of playbackzones within the media playback system 100. In some embodiments, thegraphical representations of playback zones may be selectable to bringup additional selectable icons to manage or configure the playback zonesin the media playback system, such as a creation of bonded zones,creation of zone groups, separation of zone groups, and renaming of zonegroups, among other possibilities.

For example, as shown, a “group” icon may be provided within each of thegraphical representations of playback zones. The “group” icon providedwithin a graphical representation of a particular zone may be selectableto bring up options to select one or more other zones in the mediaplayback system to be grouped with the particular zone. Once grouped,playback devices in the zones that have been grouped with the particularzone will be configured to play audio content in synchrony with theplayback device(s) in the particular zone. Analogously, a “group” iconmay be provided within a graphical representation of a zone group. Inthis case, the “group” icon may be selectable to bring up options todeselect one or more zones in the zone group to be removed from the zonegroup. Other interactions and implementations for grouping andungrouping zones via a user interface such as the user interface 400 arealso possible. The representations of playback zones in the playbackzone region 420 may be dynamically updated as playback zone or zonegroup configurations are modified.

The playback status region 430 may include graphical representations ofaudio content that is presently being played, previously played, orscheduled to play next in the selected playback zone or zone group. Theselected playback zone or zone group may be visually distinguished onthe user interface, such as within the playback zone region 420 and/orthe playback status region 430. The graphical representations mayinclude track title, artist name, album name, album year, track length,and other relevant information that may be useful for the user to knowwhen controlling the media playback system via the user interface 400.

The playback queue region 440 may include graphical representations ofaudio content in a playback queue associated with the selected playbackzone or zone group. In some embodiments, each playback zone or zonegroup may be associated with a playback queue containing informationcorresponding to zero or more audio items for playback by the playbackzone or zone group. For instance, each audio item in the playback queuemay comprise a uniform resource identifier (URI), a uniform resourcelocator (URL) or some other identifier that may be used by a playbackdevice in the playback zone or zone group to find and/or retrieve theaudio item from a local audio content source or a networked audiocontent source, possibly for playback by the playback device.

In one example, a playlist may be added to a playback queue, in whichcase information corresponding to each audio item in the playlist may beadded to the playback queue. In another example, audio items in aplayback queue may be saved as a playlist. In a further example, aplayback queue may be empty, or populated but “not in use” when theplayback zone or zone group is playing continuously streaming audiocontent, such as Internet radio that may continue to play untilotherwise stopped, rather than discrete audio items that have playbackdurations. In an alternative embodiment, a playback queue can includeInternet radio and/or other streaming audio content items and be “inuse” when the playback zone or zone group is playing those items. Otherexamples are also possible.

When playback zones or zone groups are “grouped” or “ungrouped,”playback queues associated with the affected playback zones or zonegroups may be cleared or re-associated. For example, if a first playbackzone including a first playback queue is grouped with a second playbackzone including a second playback queue, the established zone group mayhave an associated playback queue that is initially empty, that containsaudio items from the first playback queue (such as if the secondplayback zone was added to the first playback zone), that contains audioitems from the second playback queue (such as if the first playback zonewas added to the second playback zone), or a combination of audio itemsfrom both the first and second playback queues. Subsequently, if theestablished zone group is ungrouped, the resulting first playback zonemay be re-associated with the previous first playback queue, or beassociated with a new playback queue that is empty or contains audioitems from the playback queue associated with the established zone groupbefore the established zone group was ungrouped. Similarly, theresulting second playback zone may be re-associated with the previoussecond playback queue, or be associated with a new playback queue thatis empty, or contains audio items from the playback queue associatedwith the established zone group before the established zone group wasungrouped. Other examples are also possible.

Referring back to the user interface 400 of FIG. 4, the graphicalrepresentations of audio content in the playback queue region 440 mayinclude track titles, artist names, track lengths, and other relevantinformation associated with the audio content in the playback queue. Inone example, graphical representations of audio content may beselectable to bring up additional selectable icons to manage and/ormanipulate the playback queue and/or audio content represented in theplayback queue. For instance, a represented audio content may be removedfrom the playback queue, moved to a different position within theplayback queue, or selected to be played immediately, or after anycurrently playing audio content, among other possibilities. A playbackqueue associated with a playback zone or zone group may be stored in amemory on one or more playback devices in the playback zone or zonegroup, on a playback device that is not in the playback zone or zonegroup, and/or some other designated device.

The audio content sources region 450 may include graphicalrepresentations of selectable audio content sources from which audiocontent may be retrieved and played by the selected playback zone orzone group. Discussions pertaining to audio content sources may be foundin the following section.

d. Example Audio Content Sources

As indicated previously, one or more playback devices in a zone or zonegroup may be configured to retrieve for playback audio content (e.g.according to a corresponding URI or URL for the audio content) from avariety of available audio content sources. In one example, audiocontent may be retrieved by a playback device directly from acorresponding audio content source (e.g., a line-in connection). Inanother example, audio content may be provided to a playback device overa network via one or more other playback devices or network devices.

Example audio content sources may include a memory of one or moreplayback devices in a media playback system such as the media playbacksystem 100 of FIG. 1, local music libraries on one or more networkdevices (such as a control device, a network-enabled personal computer,or a networked-attached storage (NAS), for example), streaming audioservices providing audio content via the Internet (e.g., the cloud), oraudio sources connected to the media playback system via a line-in inputconnection on a playback device or network devise, among otherpossibilities.

In some embodiments, audio content sources may be regularly added orremoved from a media playback system such as the media playback system100 of FIG. 1. In one example, an indexing of audio items may beperformed whenever one or more audio content sources are added, removedor updated. Indexing of audio items may involve scanning foridentifiable audio items in all folders/directory shared over a networkaccessible by playback devices in the media playback system, andgenerating or updating an audio content database containing metadata(e.g., title, artist, album, track length, among others) and otherassociated information, such as a URI or URL for each identifiable audioitem found. Other examples for managing and maintaining audio contentsources may also be possible.

The above discussions relating to playback devices, controller devices,playback zone configurations, and media content sources provide onlysome examples of operating environments within which functions andmethods described below may be implemented. Other operating environmentsand configurations of media playback systems, playback devices, andnetwork devices not explicitly described herein may also be applicableand suitable for implementation of the functions and methods.

III. Example Method

As discussed above, embodiments described herein may involve dynamicallyconfiguring a playback device based on the detection of a barrier inproximity to the playback device.

Method 500 shown in FIG. 5 presents an embodiment of a method that canbe implemented within an operating environment involving, for example,the media playback system 100 of FIG. 1, one or more of the playbackdevice(s) 200 of FIG. 2, and one or more of the control device(s) 300 ofFIG. 3. Method 500 may include one or more operations, functions, oractions as illustrated by one or more of blocks 502-510. Although theblocks are illustrated in sequential order, these blocks may also beperformed in parallel, and/or in a different order than those describedherein. Also, the various blocks may be combined into fewer blocks,divided into additional blocks, and/or removed based upon the desiredimplementation.

In addition, for the method 500 and other processes and methodsdisclosed herein, the flowchart shows functionality and operation of onepossible implementation of present embodiments. In this regard, eachblock may represent a module, a segment, or a portion of program code,which includes one or more instructions executable by a processor forimplementing specific logical functions or steps in the process. Theprogram code may be stored on any type of computer readable medium, forexample, such as a storage device including a disk or hard drive. Thecomputer readable medium may include non-transitory computer readablemedium, for example, such as computer-readable media that stores datafor short periods of time like register memory, processor cache andRandom Access Memory (RAM). The computer readable medium may alsoinclude non-transitory media, such as secondary or persistent long termstorage, like read only memory (ROM), optical or magnetic disks,compact-disc read only memory (CD-ROM), for example. The computerreadable media may also be any other volatile or non-volatile storagesystems. The computer readable medium may be considered a computerreadable storage medium, for example, or a tangible storage device. Inaddition, for the method 500 and other processes and methods disclosedherein, each block in FIG. 5 may represent circuitry that is wired toperform the specific logical functions in the process.

a. Receiving Proximity Data that Includes an Indication of a Barrierthat is Proximate to a Playback Device

At block 502, the playback device receives proximity data that includesan indication of a barrier that is proximate to a playback device. Insome embodiments, the proximity data is received from a sensor internalto the playback device. In other embodiments, the proximity data isreceived from one or more external sensors that are coupled to theplayback device. Other arrangements are possible as well.

Any object that is in physical proximity to the playback device may actas a barrier. For instance, various household items, such as pictureframes and potted plants, may act as barriers. Alternatively, when theplayback device is placed next to a wall, the wall may act as a barrier.Similarly, when the playback device is placed inside a cabinet, one ormore sides of the cabinet may act as a barrier.

FIG. 6 shows a top-down view of an example arrangement of a playbackdevice 600 in a cabinet 620. As viewed from the above, the cabinet 620is enclosed on the top, left, and right sides, and open on the bottomside, as shown. When viewed from the side, the bottom side of cabinet620 may be considered the front of the cabinet, as indicated. Further,the front of playback device 620 is oriented towards the front of thecabinet, as shown.

Playback device 600 includes speakers 602, 604, 606, and 608. Speakers604 and 606 are arranged to output sound towards the front of thecabinet 620. Speakers 602 and 608 are arranged to output sound towardsthe left and to the right of playback device, respectively. Such anarrangement of multi-directional speakers may have the potentialbenefits of widening the sound field of the playback device and/orincreasing a stereo effect of the audio output of the playback device,in conventional implementations.

Further, the sides of the cabinet are in physical proximity to playbackdevice 600, as shown. Specifically, the left wall 622 of cabinet 620 isin physical proximity to the left side of playback device 600 upon whichspeaker 602 is arranged. Similarly, the right wall 624 of cabinet 620 isin physical proximity to the right side of the playback device 600 uponwhich speaker 608 is arranged.

In the above arrangement, when playback device 600 is in operation, theleft wall 622 and the right wall 624 may each act as a barrier to audiooutput from playback device 600. As a result, the walls of cabinet 620,including at least the left wall 622 and the right wall 624 of thecabinet 620, may affect audio output from speakers 602 and 608.

FIG. 7 shows a top-down view of another example arrangement of aplayback device 700 on a shelf 710. As viewed from above, shelf 710 isclosed on the back side, but is open on the left, right, and bottomsides, as shown. If viewed from the side, the bottom side of shelf 710may be considered the front of the cabinet, as marked. The front ofplayback device 720 is oriented towards the front of the cabinet, asshown. The playback device includes speakers 702 and 704. Speakers 702and 704 are arranged to output sound towards the front of the shelf 710.

In the example arrangement of FIG. 7, a barrier 720 is positioned infront of playback device 700, as shown. Barrier 720 may be considered tobe in proximity to playback device 700. In this arrangement, barrier 720may affect audio output from playback device 700. Particularly, audiooutput from speaker 704 may be affected by barrier 720.

As one having skill in the art will appreciate, the barrier is notrequired to physically and/or completely block and/or prevent audiooutput from the playback device. While in some circumstances, thebarrier may absorb some of the audio output of the playback device, inother circumstances, the barrier may cause reflection of the audiooutput, among other examples. In either case, the barrier may cause someeffect on the audio output of the playback device, such as muffling,distorting, or otherwise impacting the audio output.

The indication of a barrier in the proximity data may be any suitabledata that indicates the presence of a barrier in proximity to theplayback device. For example, the indication may be particular data or aparticular change in data that indicates the presence of a barrier,depending on the type of proximity sensor. In some embodiments, theproximity data directly indicates the presence of a barrier. Forexample, the proximity sensor may identify that a barrier is present andsend data in the form of a message to the playback device indicating thebarrier. In other embodiments, the presence of a barrier is inferredfrom the proximity data. For example, data from a capacitive sensor mayindicate an increase in capacitance from which the presence of a barriermay be inferred. Or data from a microphone may indicate an increase inreflected audio picked up by the microphone.

In some embodiments, the proximity data is a portion of a data streamformed by a proximity sensor that regularly monitors its environment forthe presence of objects. In such embodiments, the proximity sensor maycontinuously, periodically, or intermittently generate proximity data.In other embodiments, the proximity sensor may generate proximity datain response to an event, such as the addition of a new playback deviceto a media playback system. Such data collection may assist the playbackdevice in responding dynamically to the presence of barriers.

For example, the one or more proximity sensors may include one or moreof (i) a microphone; (ii) a capacitive sensor; (iii) an infrared (IR)sensor; or (iv) a camera. Other types of proximity sensors are possibleas well.

As one example, an infrared sensor may include an LED and a photodetector. In operation, the LED emits an infrared beam. When theinfrared beam encounters an object, a portion of the beam may bereflected back into the photo detector. From reflected beam, theinfrared sensor may generate data indicative of the distance that theinfrared proximity sensor is from the object from which the infraredbeam reflected. To reduce noise caused by other sources of infraredlight, the LED may be configured to emit the infrared beam at aparticular frequency. In turn, the photo detector may be configured todetect infrared light at the particular frequency. Certain infraredsensors may be rated to a particular range. Beyond the rated range, thereflected IR beam may be too weak for the photo detector to capture withacceptable accuracy.

Returning to FIG. 6, playback device 600 includes infrared proximitysensors 610 and 612. Proximity sensors 610 and 612 are each configuredto generate data indicating the physical distance of objects withinrange of the each respective sensor. In the arrangement of FIG. 6,playback device 600 may receive proximity data from each of proximitysensors 610 and 612. For example, playback device 600 may receiveproximity data from proximity sensor 610 that includes an indication ofleft wall 622. Similarly, playback device 600 may receive proximity datafrom proximity sensor 612 that includes an indication of right wall 624.

In some embodiments, the one or more proximity sensors may include morethan one type of proximity sensor. Arranging more than one type ofsensor may help improve the accuracy of detecting objects and/or mayassist with detecting objects of different materials. For example, an IRsensor may be more sensitive to certain materials, such as plastic orwood, while an inductive sensor may be more sensitive to othermaterials, such as metal.

In an embodiment, receiving proximity data that includes an indicationof a barrier that is proximate to a playback device may involveoutputting an audio signal (such as a pulse) from one or more speakersof the playback device. The playback device may then receive data thatis indicative of the reflected audio signal from one or moremicrophones, where the reflected audio signal corresponds to theoutputted audio signal. The playback device may then use the receivedreflected audio signal to determine whether a barrier is proximate tothe playback device.

For example, the playback device may output an audio pulse. When theplayback device is in a room, the audio pulse reflects off of the wallsof the room and objects within the room. If a barrier is in proximity tothe playback device, the reflections of the audio pulse indicate thebarrier. At least a portion of the reflected audio pulse may enter theone or more microphones which capture the portion of reflected audiopulse as data indicative of the reflected audio pulse. The dataindicative of a reflected audio pulse from the one or more microphonesmay be the proximity data. Alternatively, the data indicative of areflected audio pulse from the one or more microphones may undergoadditional processing to become the proximity data. For instance, aLaplace transform may be performed on the data indicative of a reflectedaudio pulse from the one or more microphones to determine a frequencyresponse. The frequency response of the audio playback device may beused to infer the presence of the barrier. For example, a frequencyresponse that is distorted in high frequency range may indicate thepresence of a barrier.

Returning to FIG. 7, playback device 700 includes a microphone 706.Speaker 704 may output an audio signal. Some of the audio signal mayreflect off of barrier 720. Microphone 706 may capture at least some ofthe reflected audio signal and convert the reflected audio signal intoproximity data. Playback device 700 may then receive the proximity datathat indicative of a reflected audio signal from microphone 706.

b. Detecting that the Barrier is within a Threshold Proximity to a FirstSpeaker of the Playback Device Based on the Indication of the BarrierProximate to the Playback Device

At block 504, the playback device detects that the barrier is within athreshold proximity to a first speaker of the playback device based onthe indication of the barrier proximate to the playback device.

The threshold proximity may be a condition that indicates that thebarrier is close enough to the first speaker of the playback device thatthe barrier may affect the audio output of the first speaker. Thethreshold proximity may be established based on one or more variouscharacteristics of the playback device such as the type of the speakerand/or the volume of playback. The threshold proximity may bepre-determined or, alternatively, the threshold proximity may beconfigurable. In an embodiment, the threshold proximity may indicate aphysical distance from the playback device.

Returning to FIG. 6, playback device 600 may detect whether left wall622 is within a threshold proximity to speaker 602. The detection may bebased on an indication in the proximity data from proximity sensors 610that left wall 622 is proximate. In an example, the threshold proximitymay be predetermined as 10 cm. In the example, the playback devicedetects whether left wall 622 is within 10 cm from speaker 608. Playbackdevice 600 may similarly detect whether right wall 624 is within thethreshold proximity to speaker 608. It should be understood thatproximity sensors typically measure distance from the proximity sensorto an object. Therefore, in another example arrangement, a proximitysensor may be arranged near to a speaker so that the distance from theproximity sensor to a barrier approximates the distance from the speakerto the barrier. In FIG. 6, speaker 608 and proximity sensor 612 areshown in this type of arrangement.

The playback device may include a data storage, such as memory 206 inFIG. 2, that has data indicating a frequency response of the playbackdevice stored thereon. The playback device may be configured to retrievethe frequency response from the data storage as appropriate.

The frequency response may be an approximation of an ideal frequencyresponse of the playback device. For instance, the frequency responsemay be the frequency response of the playback device in open space.Alternatively, the frequency response may be a typical frequencyresponse of playback devices of a particular type produced by amanufacturer.

In another embodiment, the playback device is configured to determinethe frequency response of the playback device. For example, as notedabove, the playback device may output an audio signal and receive backdata indicative of the audio signal. The playback device may determinethe frequency response of the playback device based on the received dataindicative of the audio signal. The determined frequency response may bestored in the data storage.

Determining the frequency response may be an aspect of a set-upprocedure. For example, during the set-up procedure, a user of theplayback device may be instructed to place the playback device in aparticular arrangement so that the playback device may determine afrequency response. The particular arrangement may involve placing theplayback device on a surface without any objects nearby that couldsignificantly affect the audio output of the device. Such an arrangementmay approximate a frequency response of the playback device in openspace.

In some embodiments, each speaker of the playback device may have arespective frequency response. In an embodiment, the frequency responseof each speaker may be stored in the data storage. In anotherembodiment, the frequency response of each speaker may be determined bythe playback device. Other examples are possible as well.

FIG. 8 shows example frequency responses of playback device 700 of FIG.7 depicted as plots. Frequency response 802 is an example frequencyresponse of speaker 704 that has been determined when playback device700 was positioned in open space without any barriers nearby. Frequencyresponse 804 is an example frequency response of speaker 702 as arrangedin FIG. 7. As shown in FIG. 8, frequency response 804 closely tracksfrequency response 802.

As further shown in FIG. 8, frequency response 806 is an examplefrequency response of speaker 704 as arranged in FIG. 7. As shown in theplot, frequency response 806 is distorted at higher frequencies. Thisdistortion is caused by barrier 720. Typically, if a barrier causes aneffect on the audio output of the playback device, the higher frequencyrange is affected by the barrier more than the lower frequencies. Lowerfrequency sound may be less affected by the barrier because lowerfrequency sounds generally propagates better than high frequency soundthrough materials.

Detecting that a barrier is within a threshold proximity may involve thefrequency response. The playback device may determine a frequencyresponse of a system that includes the playback device and the barrier(and possibly other objects in the vicinity of the playback device).After determining the frequency response of the system, the playbackdevice may determine whether a difference between the frequency responseof the playback device and the frequency response of the system isgreater than a first distortion threshold.

The difference between the frequency response of the playback device andthe frequency response of the system may take different forms. Forexample, the difference may be a percentage difference from thefrequency response of the system. In such an embodiment, the firstdistortion threshold may be a particular percentage, such as 5%.Alternatively, the difference between the frequency response of theplayback device and the frequency response of the system may be anabsolute difference. For instance, the difference may be an absolutedifference the frequency response of the playback device and thefrequency response of the system at any frequency (or frequency range).Alternatively, the difference may be the total distortion averagedacross the frequency spectrum. Other examples are possible as well.

While in some instances, for the purpose of example and explanation, thebarrier is described as affecting the frequency response of the playbackdevice, one having skill in the art will appreciate that the barrierdoes not change the frequency response of the playback device itself.Instead, the introduction of the barrier causes an effect on theperceived frequency response from the perspective of a listener. Inother words, when the playback device itself defines a system, thebarrier does not change the frequency response of that system. However,if the barrier is considered part of the system, the frequency responseof the system that includes the playback device and the barrier isdifferent from the frequency response of the system that includes onlythe playback device itself.

In some embodiments, detecting that the barrier is within a thresholdproximity to a first speaker of the playback device may involvedetermining that the barrier satisfied a gating condition. For instance,the playback device may determine that the barrier has been within thethreshold proximity to the first speaker of the playback device for aninterval of time, such as 30 seconds, and has thereby satisfied thegating condition. Alternatively, the gating condition may be based onuser input. The gating condition may prevent too frequent or undesirableadjustment of the playback configuration of the playback device due totemporary barriers. For instance, when a person moves in front of aspeaker and thereby acts as a barrier, the gating condition may providesome delay before the playback configuration of the playback device isset. During the delay, the person may move away from in front of thespeaker and therefore no longer act as a barrier.

c. Setting a Playback Configuration of the Playback Device

At block 506, based on the detection that the barrier is within athreshold proximity to a first speaker of the playback device, theplayback device sets a playback configuration of the playback device.Setting the playback configuration may involve a variety of operationssuch as deactivating a speaker of the playback device or adjusting acomponent of audio content played by the playback device.

Setting a playback configuration of the playback device may involvecausing the first speaker of the playback device to be deactivated. Theplayback device may deactivate the first speaker. Alternatively, theplayback device may send a command to deactivate the first speaker. Forexample, referring to FIG. 7, speaker 704 may be considered the firstspeaker. Based on detecting that barrier 720 is within a thresholdproximity to speaker 704, playback device 700 may deactivate speaker704.

The first speaker of the playback device may be configured to play acomponent of the audio content. In one embodiment, the component of theaudio content may be a specific frequency range. For instance, the firstspeaker may be a subwoofer and the component may be the low frequencyrange of the audio content. Alternatively, the first speaker may be atweeter and the component may be the high frequency range of the audiocontent. In another embodiment, the audio content may be multi-channelaudio, such as a stereo recording. For instance, with a stereorecording, the component of the audio content may be a right channelcomponent of the stereo recording or a left channel component of thestereo recording.

After causing the first speaker to be deactivated, the playback devicemay cause a second speaker of the playback device to play the componentof the audio content. For example, referring to FIG. 7, if the playbackdevice deactivates speaker 704 where speaker 704 was configured to playa particular component of an audio content, the playback device maycause speaker 702 to play the particular component. It should beunderstood that causing a second speaker of the playback device to playthe component after the condition of causing the first speaker to bedeactivated may involve a brief overlap where the second speaker playsthe component before the first speaker is deactivated.

In some embodiments, the first speaker has a first output direction andthe second speaker has a second output direction that is different fromthe first output direction. For example, in FIG. 6, the output directionof speaker 602 is to the left of playback device 600 while the outputdirection of speaker 604 is to the front of playback device 600. In suchan embodiment, causing a second speaker to play the component of theaudio content may involve modifying the component of the audio contentbased on at least the second output direction. For instance, if theplayback device causes speaker 604 to play the component of the audiocontent, the playback device may increase the volume of the component.Alternatively, the playback device may alter one or more frequencycomponents of the component. In another alternative, the playback devicemay play a different component of the audio content. Modifications tothe component may help to offset the change in the overall playbackcharacteristics of the audio content on playback device 600 when speaker602 is deactivated.

Setting the playback configuration of the playback device may involveadjusting the component of the audio content based on the receivedproximity data. For example, when the playback device is playing theaudio content at one volume level, the playback device may adjust theparticular volume of the component of the audio content. The playbackdevice may vary the amount that the volume is adjusted based on thereceived proximity data. For instance, if proximity data indicates thata particular barrier is relatively near to the playback device (or aspeaker thereof), the playback device may adjust the volume by a greateramount than if the proximity data indicated that barrier is relativelyfurther from the playback device. Alternatively, the playback device mayalter one or more frequency components of the component. For instance,if the proximity data indicates that a particular barrier is relativelynear to the playback device (or a speaker thereof), the playback devicemay adjust the both the high range and the mid-range. In contrast, ifthe proximity data indicated that barrier is relatively further from theplayback device, the playback device may adjust the high range. Otheralternatives are possible as well.

Adjusting the component of the audio content based on the receivedproximity data may involve adjusting one or more frequency components ofthe component of the audio content. For example, referring to FIG. 8,frequency response 806 of speaker 704 is distorted at higher frequenciesby barrier 720. The component of audio played by speaker 704 may beadjusted based on the distortion at higher frequencies. Adjusting one ormore frequency components may involve filtering the one or morefrequency components. For instance, a low pass filter may be applied tothe component of audio played by speaker 704 to diminish the distortioncaused by barrier 720.

In some embodiments, the playback device operates according to a seconddistortion threshold that is of a higher distortion than the firstdistortion threshold. In such embodiments, the playback device mayadjust a component of the audio content to be played by the firstspeaker based on the received proximity data when the frequency responseof the playback device is distorted above the first distortion thresholdby the barrier. As noted above, adjusting a component of the audiocontent may involve adjusting volume or adjusting frequency components,among other possible examples.

Further, the playback device may cause the first speaker to bedeactivated when the frequency response of the playback device isdistorted above the second distortion threshold by the barrier. In thisarrangement, the action taken by the playback device in the presence ofdistortion caused by a barrier is graduated. At or above the firstdistortion threshold, the playback device may adjust the audio content.As distortion increases to the second distortion threshold or above, theplayback device may deactivate the first speaker. Other examples ofgraduated responses are possible as well.

In some embodiments, the playback device (and the first speaker) may bepart of a playback system that includes a second playback device (whichmay include the second speaker). The playback device may set theplayback configuration of the at least one additional playback devicebased on the detection that the barrier is within a threshold proximityto a first speaker of the playback device. For instance, afterdeactivating the first speaker, the playback device may send a messageto the second playback device play at least a portion of the componentof the audio content that was to be played by the first speaker.

The playback device may be a component of a media playback system, suchas media playback system 100 of FIG. 1. The media playback system mayinclude the playback device and a controller. The playback device maysend an indication of the barrier that is proximate to the playbackdevice to the controller of the media playback system. For example, thecontroller may be control device 300 of FIG. 3. In some embodiments, theplayback device may send the indication in response to setting theplayback configuration of the playback device. The playback device maysend the indication of the barrier over a network interface, such asnetwork interface 214 of FIG. 2.

The controller may display a representation of the indication of thebarrier on an interface of the controller. FIG. 9 shows an examplecontroller interface 900. Similar to the example controller interface400 in FIG. 4, controller interface 900 includes a playback controlregion 910, a playback zone region 920, a playback status region 930, aplayback queue region 940, and an audio content sources region 950.Controller interface 400 also includes a representation 960 of theindication of the barrier. In an embodiment, representation 960 isselectable. When selected, controller interface 900 may displayinformation about the barrier. In one embodiment, the information mayinclude at least an indication of the specific speaker that is affectedby the barrier.

The controller may display a representation indicating the playbackconfiguration. For instance, the representation may indicate that aparticular speaker is deactivated. The controller may also display acontrol interface that allows a user to accept or reject the playbackconfiguration. Further, the controller may also display an indicationthat allows a user to set the playback device to dynamically adjust theplayback configuration.

The playback device may output an alert sound based on detecting that abarrier is within a threshold proximity. The alert sound may beconfigured such that a user of the playback device may realize that abarrier may be affecting audio output of the playback device uponhearing the alert sound. For example, the alert sound may be a beep or asequence of beeps. Or, the alert sound may be a pre-recording voicestating an alert. Other examples are possible as well. When a barrier isaffecting a particular speaker of the playback device, the playbackdevice may output the alert sound from the particular speaker affectedby the barrier.

d. Causing the Playback Device to Play an Audio Content According to thePlayback Configuration

At block 508, the playback device causes the playback device to play anaudio content according to the playback configuration. For example,where setting the playback configuration of the playback device involvescausing the first speaker of the playback device to be deactivated, theplayback device plays the audio content while the first speaker of theplayback device is deactivated. Or, as another example, where settingthe playback configuration of the playback device involves adjusting acomponent of the audio content, the playback device plays the audiocontent with the component of the audio content adjusted.

The audio content may be any audio content such as the example audiocontent discussed above with respect to the example playback devicesand/or the example audio content sources, among other alternatives. Asnoted above, the audio content may be a multi-channel audio recording,such as a stereo recording.

IV. Conclusion

The description above discloses, among other things, various examplesystems, methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture including,among other components, firmware and/or software executed on hardware.It is understood that such examples are merely illustrative and shouldnot be considered as limiting. For example, it is contemplated that anyor all of the firmware, hardware, and/or software aspects or componentscan be embodied exclusively in hardware, exclusively in software,exclusively in firmware, or in any combination of hardware, software,and/or firmware. Accordingly, the examples provided are not the onlyway(s) to implement such systems, methods, apparatus, and/or articles ofmanufacture.

As indicated above, the present application involves configuring aplayback device based on the detection of a barrier in proximity to theplayback device. In one aspect, a method is provided. The methodinvolves a playback device receiving proximity data that includes anindication of a barrier that is proximate to a playback device. Themethod further involves the playback device detecting that the barrieris within a threshold proximity to a first speaker of a playback devicebased on the indication of the barrier proximate to the playback device.In response to the detecting, the method involves setting a playbackconfiguration of the playback device. The method also involves causingthe playback device to play an audio content according to the playbackconfiguration.

In another aspect, a playback device is provided. The playback includesa first speaker, a second speaker, a processor, a data storage, and aprogram logic. The program logic is stored in the data storage andexecutable by the processor to receive proximity data that includes anindication of a barrier that is proximate to a playback device anddetect that the barrier is within a threshold proximity to the firstspeaker based on the indication of the barrier proximate to the playbackdevice, where the first speaker is configured to play a component of anaudio content. In response to the detecting, the program logic isfurther executable to (i) cause the first speaker to be deactivated and(ii) cause the second speaker to play the component of the audiocontent.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a playback device to cause the playbackdevice to perform functions. The functions include receiving proximitydata that includes an indication of a barrier that is proximate to aplayback device, and detecting that the barrier is within a thresholdproximity to a first speaker of a playback device based on theindication of the barrier proximate to the playback device. In responseto the detecting, the functions further include setting a playbackconfiguration of the playback device; and causing the playback device toplay an audio content according to the playback configuration.

Additionally, references herein to “embodiment” means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment can be included in at least one example embodiment of aninvention. The appearances of this phrase in various places in thespecification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment,nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of otherembodiments. As such, the embodiments described herein, explicitly andimplicitly understood by one skilled in the art, can be combined withother embodiments.

The specification is presented largely in terms of illustrativeenvironments, systems, procedures, steps, logic blocks, processing, andother symbolic representations that directly or indirectly resemble theoperations of data processing devices coupled to networks. These processdescriptions and representations are typically used by those skilled inthe art to most effectively convey the substance of their work to othersskilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth to provide athorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it isunderstood to those skilled in the art that certain embodiments of thepresent disclosure can be practiced without certain, specific details.In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components, andcircuitry have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring aspects of the embodiments. Accordingly, the scope of thepresent disclosure is defined by the appended claims rather than theforgoing description of embodiments.

When any of the appended claims are read to cover a purely softwareand/or firmware implementation, at least one of the elements in at leastone example is hereby expressly defined to include a tangible,non-transitory medium such as a memory, DVD, CD, Blu-ray, and so on,storing the software and/or firmware.

We claim:
 1. A playback device comprising: a first speaker arranged tooutput in a first direction; a second speaker arranged to output in asecond direction that is different from the first direction; one or moreprocessors; and tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media havinginstructions encoded therein, wherein the instructions, when executed bythe one or more processors, cause the playback device to perform amethod comprising causing the playback device to play an audio content,wherein the first speaker is configured to play a component of the audiocontent; receiving proximity data that includes an indication of abarrier that is proximate to the playback device; detecting that thebarrier is within a threshold proximity to the first speaker of theplayback device based on the indication of the barrier that is proximateto the playback device; based on the detecting, causing the firstspeaker to be deactivated; and after the first speaker is deactivated,causing the second speaker of the playback device to play at least thecomponent of the audio content.
 2. The playback device of claim 1,wherein the second speaker arranged to output in a second direction thatis different from the first direction, and wherein the method furthercomprises modifying at least a portion of the component of the audiocontent based on at least the second output direction.
 3. The playbackdevice of claim 1, wherein the audio content is a stereo recording, andwherein the component of the audio content is one of: (i) a rightchannel component of the stereo recording or (ii) a left channelcomponent of the stereo recording.
 4. The playback device of claim 1,wherein the component of the audio content is a sub-component of audiocontent to be played by the first speaker.
 5. The playback device ofclaim 1, the method further comprising: adjusting the component of theaudio content based on the received proximity data.
 6. The playbackdevice of claim 5, wherein adjusting the component of the audio contentbased on the received proximity data comprises: adjusting one or morefrequency components of the component of the audio content.
 7. Theplayback device of claim 1, wherein the playback device has a frequencyresponse, and wherein detecting that the barrier is within the thresholdproximity to the first speaker of the playback device based on theindication of the barrier that is proximate to the playback devicecomprises: determining a frequency response of a system, wherein thesystem comprises the playback device and the barrier; and determiningwhether a difference between the frequency response of the playbackdevice and the frequency response of the system is greater than a firstdistortion threshold.
 8. The playback device of claim 7, wherein theplayback device further operates according to a second distortionthreshold that is of a higher distortion than the first distortionthreshold, the method further comprising adjusting a component of theaudio content to be played by the first speaker based on the receivedproximity data when the frequency response of the playback device isdistorted above the first distortion threshold by the barrier, whereincausing the first speaker to be deactivated comprises causing the firstspeaker to be deactivated when the frequency response of the playbackdevice is distorted above the second distortion threshold by thebarrier.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the playback device is acomponent of a media playback system, and wherein the media playbacksystem comprises the playback device and a controller, the methodfurther comprising: in response to setting a playback configuration ofthe playback device, sending an indication of the barrier that isproximate to the playback device to the controller of the media playbacksystem.
 10. A method comprising: causing a playback device to play anaudio content, wherein a first speaker of the playback device isarranged to output in a first direction and configured to play acomponent of the audio content; receiving proximity data that includesan indication of a barrier that is proximate to the playback device;detecting that the barrier is within a threshold proximity to the firstspeaker of the playback device based on the indication of the barrierthat is proximate to the playback device; based on the detecting,causing the first speaker to be deactivated; and after the first speakeris deactivated, causing a second speaker of the playback device to playat least the component of the audio content, wherein the second speakerarranged to output in a second direction that is different from thefirst direction.
 11. The method of claim 10, further comprisingmodifying at least a portion of the component of the audio content basedon at least the second direction.
 12. The method of claim 10, whereinthe audio content is a stereo recording, and wherein the component ofthe audio content is one of: (i) a right channel component of the stereorecording or (ii) a left channel component of the stereo recording. 13.The method of claim 10, wherein the component of the audio content is asub-component of audio content to be played by the first speaker. 14.The method of claim 10, further comprising: adjusting the component ofthe audio content based on the received proximity data.
 15. The methodof claim 10, wherein the playback device has a frequency response, andwherein detecting that the barrier is within the threshold proximity tothe first speaker of the playback device based on the indication of thebarrier that is proximate to the playback device comprises: determininga frequency response of a system, wherein the system comprises theplayback device and the barrier; and determining whether a differencebetween the frequency response of the playback device and the frequencyresponse of the system is greater than a first distortion threshold. 16.The method of claim 15, wherein the playback device further operatesaccording to a second distortion threshold that is of a higherdistortion than the first distortion threshold, the method furthercomprising adjusting a component of the audio content to be played bythe first speaker based on the received proximity data when thefrequency response of the playback device is distorted above the firstdistortion threshold by the barrier, wherein causing the first speakerto be deactivated comprises causing the first speaker to be deactivatedwhen the frequency response of the playback device is distorted abovethe second distortion threshold by the barrier.
 17. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium including a set of instructions for executionby a processor, the set of instructions, when executed, cause a playbackdevice to perform operations comprising: causing the playback device toplay an audio content, wherein a first speaker of the playback device isarranged to output in a first direction and configured to play acomponent of the audio content; receiving proximity data that includesan indication of a barrier that is proximate to the playback device;detecting that the barrier is within a threshold proximity to the firstspeaker of the playback device based on the indication of the barrierthat is proximate to the playback device; based on the detecting,causing the first speaker to be deactivated; and after the first speakeris deactivated, causing a second speaker of the playback device to playat least the component of the audio content, wherein the second speakerarranged to output in a second direction that is different from thefirst direction.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 17, wherein the operations further comprise modifying at least aportion of the component of the audio content based on at least thesecond direction.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 17, wherein the audio content is a stereo recording, and whereinthe component of the audio content is one of: (i) a right channelcomponent of the stereo recording or (ii) a left channel component ofthe stereo recording.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 17, wherein the component of the audio content is a sub-componentof audio content to be played by the first speaker.
 21. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, the operationsfurther comprising: adjusting the component of the audio content basedon the received proximity data.
 22. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 17, wherein the playback device has a frequencyresponse, and wherein detecting that the barrier is within the thresholdproximity to the first speaker of the playback device based on theindication of the barrier that is proximate to the playback devicecomprises: determining a frequency response of a system, wherein thesystem comprises the playback device and the barrier; and determiningwhether a difference between the frequency response of the playbackdevice and the frequency response of the system is greater than a firstdistortion threshold.
 23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 22, wherein the playback device further operates according to asecond distortion threshold that is of a higher distortion than thefirst distortion threshold, the operations further comprising adjustinga component of the audio content to be played by the first speaker basedon the received proximity data when the frequency response of theplayback device is distorted above the first distortion threshold by thebarrier, wherein causing the first speaker to be deactivated comprisescausing the first speaker to be deactivated when the frequency responseof the playback device is distorted above the second distortionthreshold by the barrier.